Obituary of Paula J. Allen

Paula J. Allen, 58, of Easton passed on to her eternal reward Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at home surrounded by her family after a five year battle with cancer. She was born July 28, 1953 in Fisherville, Ontario, Canada to Ross and Edith (Clark) Gee. Paula was a 1974 graduate of the Nightingale School of Nursing in Toronto which led to career stops at hospitals in Toronto, Hagersville, and Montreal and, after a time-out for family-raising, resumed nursing work with the Eddy Visiting Nurses until finishing in December. She married George E. Allen on October 23, 1976, with whom she raised three sons who, with their spouses, have added six grandchildren (so far) to the family. A devoted follower of Jesus Christ, she endeavored to bless Him by being a blessing to others—a common thread throughout her work, family and community life. She customarily started every day with Bible reading and prayer time. Indeed, in her experience, the days not so commenced never turned out as good as they could have. During her years away from full-time nursing, she poured her energies into youth education. This blended well with another life-long passion; the study and understanding of history especially regarding how the past so often shapes the future. Her viewpoint was that defining what to believe and why is a requisite for a solid education and citizenship. As the difficulties this approach presents public education became more clear, she developed an ambitious home school curricula and later, served in teaching roles at The King’s School in Hadley and volunteering capacities at Loudonville Christian during the boys’ high school years. She also served for many years as a teacher and superintendent of Sunday school at New Life Christian Church. As with all gifted teachers, she had the innate ability to transform her natural nurturing instincts into the likeness of a drill sergeant when required to be most effective. Among her great joys has been receiving, sometimes years later, notes from former students expressing their thanks for her influence on the course of their lives. And the greatest joy coming from those who had been among the most difficult! In addition to all these tasks, she also filled a variety of roles over the years at the family’s dairy farm, the most crucial of which was preparing the next generation. This most often took the form of character development perhaps best exemplified by her interpretation of rock picking chores on cropland as “real estate selection” for her crew of youngsters. Paula was predeceased by her father, Ross. She is survived by her mother, Edith Gee, parents-in-law, Norman and Gertrude Allen, her husband of 35 years, George, their three sons (and spouses and grandchildren); Aaron and his wife Kristen of Saratoga and their children Samuel, Georgia and Harrison; Ross and his wife Courtney of McKinney, Texas and their children, Reagan and Ella; and Travis and his wife Samantha of Easton and their child, Lucy. She is also survived by her brothers: Ronald Gee of Fisherville, Ontario and his significant other, Carlene Hlavaty; Ward Gee and his wife, Karen, also of Fisherville; and Clark Gee and his wife, Heather of Dorchester, Ontario; along with numerous nieces and nephews and dear friends and colleagues. The Allen family wishes to express heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of support and prayers that helped sustain Paula over the course of her illness. The family also thanks the team of doctors and support staff at Albany Med, headed up by her Oncologist, Dr. Rufus Collea, for their compassion and skill in meeting her medical needs and care. A memorial service to celebrate Paula’s life is scheduled for 2:00 P.M., Saturday, February 11th, at Oakwood Christian Church, 260 Oakwood Avenue, Troy, NY. The family suggests memorials in Paula’s name to the Sunday School Development Fund at New Life Christian Church, 2 South Union Street, Cambridge, NY 12816. Arrangements are under the direction of Flynn Bros., Inc. Funeral Home, 80 Main St. Greenwich, NY.